The sword of Tidings : awakening
by dragons mirth
Summary: About a Sword


The Sword of Tidings-Naicha of Evoshu  
  
The Dragon stirred in its sleep.   
  
deep down in the tunnels of Evoshu mountain, deep inside the cold, still, hard rock, was a warmth reverbrating from   
  
the deep fired of the core of the earth. it warmed the rocks of the sandy tunnels the dragon lay in. for years and  
  
years he had slept in a deep sleep in the warmth of evoshu. the last warm place in all of earth.  
  
it had been a different story years ago. when the dragon had roamed the land. when the earth had been bright, filled  
  
with the colours of love and nature and natural people and animals . when the gentle breeze had lifted the willow  
  
leaves and rippled the soft blue lake. when the sun rose high in the deep blue skies arching over the moors of green  
  
, buzzing with life.  
  
when Naicha the dragon had been awake, the earth had been like that. he had stalked the leafy cool forests day and  
  
night, guardian of the living and of the dead. when the balance of the magic that held earth together had been equal.  
  
when the sword of tidings had been in the hands of the throne.  
  
now the sword was lost. it had been lost in the battle of the tidings. the sword had been dropped over the cliff where  
  
king Maraki had fought, and lost.  
  
now his drifting spirit simply floated throughout the mountains and cliffs, forever searching for his sword , so that  
  
one day the peace would be regained and the dragon would wake.  
  
Naicha the dragon was an important part of the balance of the earth magic. every magical creature was signifigant,   
  
but a dragon is something unususal and important. it symbolises life and death, and when a soul on the earth loses  
  
its body, the dragon would lose a dark scale in mourning. when a soul was born into this earth, a new bright scale   
  
would grow, and keep the balance equal , and so the dragon would keep the earth is balance.  
  
the sword was the heart of the earth magic. the magic generated from the earth stone set inside the sword. while it  
  
was in the hands of the king, the God Kinosa, his name meaning, literally, God of earth, power over earth, guardian  
  
of earth magic. Kinosa was the weight of the balance, while he lived, he ruled well, when he died in the battle, his  
  
soul gained the throne of heaven, and the sword would have gone with him, and kept the earht magic equal forever,  
  
had it not been for the twist of fate that had seen the sword of tidings over the edge of the cliff.  
  
and then the changes had come. and the earth had grown dark. the magic had slept.  
  
so did the dragon.  
  
for thousands of years, Naicha had roamed without sleeping , mourning and welcoming every soul. then on the day  
  
of the sword falling, Naicha had left his forest for the first time. he had searched the lands, growing colder slowly,   
  
for a place that was warm, to sleep. and found evoshu.  
  
Naicha had then slept ,and never shed or grew a scale. he slept deep, and did not dream , not even of the horrors that  
  
went on in the world outside. he did not see the cold and the dark , the ice and the rocks, or the shadows. truly,  
  
the dragon was the only pure one left alive whose soul had not been poisined by the shadows.  
  
they crept, whispering of a nameless terror, shreiking and screaming across the barren land. striking deep into the heart  
  
of the living. until they too were only a whisper, only a shadow, creeping the mountaisn and rocks with only  
  
sorrow for company.  
  
still the dragon slept.  
  
as each moment passed, the dragon slept deeper and deeper. as each snowflake fell the dragon was sleeping.   
  
and the dragon was getting colder.  
  
the core of the earth was the only warm place left. Evoshu was the only warm place in reach of the sick remaining living   
  
creatures and deformed humans. and none dared set foot too deep, for fear of the sleeping dragon. yet nothign would  
  
wake Naicha now. not now that Evoshu was falling to the cold and to the shadows. now Naicha would sleep deeper  
  
than ever. and yet the only hope for stopping the dark was for Naicha to wake.  
  
but the dragon still slept.  
  
and up on the summit of evoshu, far away from the warm inner tunnels, in the howling snow blizard, stood one of the  
  
strange creatures evolved to adapt and live in the intense cold and the winds with a blade, like a knife to the skin.  
  
the creatures had no skin bare. they were covered with coarse, shaggy grey-white hair , they were short and built  
  
thick and steady, with lond dark claws extending from fingers and toes. theyre faces were those of an unknown  
  
animal, covered also in white hair and showing only the large, round, dark eyes.  
  
these creatures were to be known as Evoe's, for they lived mainly on Evoshu. the only mountain with any warmth  
  
and light left. they stood not feeling the wind, facing out into the everlasting dark, their large eyes scrutinizing the   
  
horizen.  
  
for prey.  
  
Human had changed. no longer did they carry dignity and refined activities. survival was al that mattered. they were   
  
instinctive. survival stood out like a burning message to the mind. to hunt, to eat, to live. ultimately it ruled them now.  
  
the Evoe's name was Keallin. keallin, meaning "snow-searcher". keallin was one of the creatures that would forage  
  
in the snow for a lucky frozen animal for a meal. keallin live in the snow-tunnel, with the other few remaing Evoe's.  
  
the snow tunnel was hard snow forzen solid shaped into a tunnel, leading to a warmer place inside the mountain.  
  
away from the constant blizard. where eating, sleeping and the small amount of socializing that Evoe' s made were  
  
done.  
  
and the dragon slept, oblivious to the horror around it.  
  
oblivious to the Evoe's frantic screeching at its sight. the Evoe had not caught sight of prey. the call it made was not  
  
for an ambush. it was a panicked call of desperation.  
  
on the dark, icy horizen, a shadow slid gently through the night, like a human through water. it was not just a shadow.  
  
it was larger. it was more sinister. it was darker, eviller, and terrifying. Keallin stood imoblised by fear. her heart   
  
stopped for a moment. her brain fought to register that such a horror could be there.  
  
it was the Black Dragon . Sonor.  
  
While Naicha welcomed and mourned, and brought balance to the earth-magic of the sword of tidings, the black Dragon  
  
tore apart the frail web of reality with its sheer evil existance. it leapt upon the darker of the scales and tipped the   
  
balance irremovably uneven.   
  
it would kill the dragon.  
  
it would kill Naicha.  
  
and yet on he slept, gone with the wind, unable to wake. cold. getting cold.  
  
the black shadow dragon swooped and killed Keallin with a single swipe. then sonor swept slowly through the   
  
thick air, seeking the entrance tunnel to Naichas sleepy sandy lair.  
  
shreiking, sonor swept into the tunnel and rushed down into the deep warm earth. the warmth hit sonors dark  
  
scraggy face.  
  
and then sonor backed. he squealed frantically, like a wild rabbit caught in a trap. his dark eyes glazed. sonor felt  
  
the warmth on his face and screamed , terrified, fighting to get out the tunnel.  
  
he backed up the sandy earthen floor, back past the cold rocks, out into the snow.  
  
and then he sank back into the dark, hissing, as if moving through water again, and fought the cold wind back  
  
to where he had come .  
  
deep in the tunnels of Evoshu,  
  
The dragon stirred in its sleep.  
  
and one sleepy, thick, glazed eye shot open.  
  
The dragon had woken.  
  
Naicha lay in the only warm patch of its once warm haven of evoshu . the sand was hardening into black clumps and  
  
freezing into the cold blueish rocks.  
  
He slowly stretched forward on slender , powerful foreleg, stretching out each of his talons and tapping the blue rock.  
  
a hollow ring sounded out.  
  
Naicha scraped the hardened sand sadly. heaving out his hindlegs and long, tapering tail, he stood to his feet and  
  
turned to face the soft floor.  
  
he gently scraped the surface, sending the sandy earth into the tunnel behind him. the tunnel entrance began to fill  
  
up slowly. he dug until it was sealed.  
  
then he smooted the sand flat and lay down again, his dark eyes unblinking. waiting.  
  
he was waiting for a spirit of old. the time had arisen and the battle would commence.  
  
Naicha waited.  
  
Maraki was not long. he had been drawn to the sense of the woken dragon. he drifted slowly until he met the tunnel  
  
entrance. blocked. so Naicha had fears of the cold even in the heart of Evoshu.  
  
Maraki went through the sand quietly. Naicha was waiting.  
  
"Maraki" his voice was quiet and subdued.  
  
"Naicha. many years...and you have awoken"  
  
Naicha stared soulfully back at him.  
  
"i think you know why"  
  
It was Marakis turn for a small silence.  
  
"of course i know why. do you think i could ever forget, while Sonor's blizard rages eternally outside and his  
  
black moon is high in my skies? i could never forget my mistake that sent you , my one true freind, to a sleep that would   
  
never be broken until now. that drove the shadows back in. that called Sonor in. of course i know why, Naicha. i  
  
may forget years, i may not feel where the west wind blows, but i will never forget why "  
  
"then it is the right time. we will stage the uprising. "  
  
maraki chewed his lip thoughtfully. or fearfully.  
  
"it is early. "  
  
"it is late. the cold had crept down to my warm mountain-core, Maraki. the warmth of the earht cannot feed me  
  
forever. i slept for a reason. not only did the cold drive me down, but my strength had been drained. the warmth of  
  
the earht has fed me well. i am strong. i hope you have done well in your years, King"  
  
"many things, i have done in my years of spirit. this i have not" maraki confessed boldly yet tiredly.  
  
"i am weak, i am tired, i have not slept for the fears the shadows could take me as they easily could. there was no  
  
time for me to sleep. i have been torn apart by this"  
  
"you have torn yourself apart over it" Naicha retorted.  
  
Maraki was quiet.   
  
"this may be true, but i cannot go back now. w have no time for me to sleep, not even under guard of your  
  
wake. we shall have to face sonor as we are"  
  
"i know. i didnt call you here to plan a heroic failure, maraki . i called you here to discuss the coming of the apocalypse"  
  
maraki drew his breath in slowly.  
  
"the apocalypse may be the greatest of our worries. but it is not the immidiate"  
  
"it will be soon, maraki. i may have slept a thousand years but i know of the dangers. sonor is here. he had scalded  
  
my sands with his cold. he has frozen the tunnel to blue rock. he is here. we must speak with the greater ones"  
  
"the greater ones are nothing to do on this worry!" maraki whispered curtly.  
  
Naicha gave him a sad look.  
  
"my wise old freind, your greif had driven your wisdom away from your heart. have you forgotten who you are?"  
  
"i am God king maraki of earth . and i am alone responsible for this earth"  
  
Naicha shook his head.  
  
"we are pawns" he said softly. "pawns for the kings of the chess game called apocalypse. the dark peices are advancing.  
  
we are the Light peices. we must move now. it is our turn. but we cannot move alone. we must consult the game  
  
players" his voice was soft and distant, a calling to Maraki to remember the old times.  
  
"remember who you are, maraki. and what you must do. i cannot speak with the greater ones. you must. you must   
  
tell them of the dangers. tell them to make their text move. and remember" he paused, waiting for maraki to turn  
  
round.  
  
"to win a chess game, all you have to do is take the king" he smiled .  
  
Maraki smiled back sadly.  
  
"remember also, my dearest freind, In a chess game, Queens are the most dangerous of all"  
  
he faded then, as did the smile on Naichas face.  
  
"and who is the Queen of this chess game" he muttered. then he lay his magnificent , noble head down on his outstretched  
  
forelegs and slept again. 


End file.
